Last week I met Patricia Aburdene at the launch event for the Marpa Society (a project of Naropa’s Marpa Center for Business and Economics).

Patricia was discussing her new book, Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism. In her talk and in her book she examines 7 new trends that she believes will transform how we work, live and invest. Her main point is that conscious capitalism is already profoundly transforming the way the world does business.

I came away from the talk feeling really encouraged.

It’s really easy to feel like the world is going to hell in a hand basket right now. Global warming, the war in Iraq, school shootings—it’s really easy to feel overwhelmed by all the bad stuff out there.

But as the same time, there are growing numbers of people who want the world to be a place of beauty and peace. And increasingly they are using business as their vehicle for changing the world.

In the 1960s, big business was viewed as “The Man” to be resisted and avoided at all cost. Now there is a growing sense around the world that business can be a force for change in the world. I believe that in the not too distant future, business will be considered the most powerful force for positive change on the planet.

Think about it—in 1980, there were less than 1/2 dozen natural foods supermarkets in the country. Today Whole Foods is a multi-billion company—and the big chains like Safeway are rushing to copy them. A few years ago, Zaadz was just a gleam in Brian Johnson’s eye. Today they have more than 50,000 members and are growing exponentially. Spectacular leaps forward such as these are happening every day in this country and around the world.

I think this is an extraordinary time to be alive—just as the wave of conscious business is beginning to gain momentum. And I feel like The Chief Good is at the right place at the right time to help people and businesses make the transition to this new way of thinking and being.

As an added note, I think Mark Wilding is doing a tremendous job with the Marpa Center. Be sure to check out their website for ways to plug in.

At The Chief Good we aim to transform the way the world does business.

Imagine what the world would be like if corporations became synonymous with Conscious Business Management. Imagine a world where brands like Microsoft, McDonalds, or Wal-Mart become known for how they positively impact humanity. What if corporations became champions for a better world—not just in their PR, but at the core of everything they do. Imagine if the word “business” itself was transformed to feel more like giving than taking.

That is the world we see.

We see the possibility for corporations to be measured as much for their ability to generate happiness as for their ability to generate profits. We are working to create a world where companies are leading the way in improving the lives of stakeholders, employees, and customers through economically viable management techniques based on happiness.

We invite you to join us in promoting this concept. It is absolutely within our power to transform the way the world does business.

At The Chief Good we like to add a new blog post every Monday.

So today we prepared an elaborate post on memetic marketing.

But in the space of time between starting the post and getting ready to publish, the nation learned of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech.

So today, we made the call to hold off on our regular posting. Instead we’d like to take a moment to send our thoughts and prayers to the friends and families of those who have been touched by this tragedy.

I don’t know if we made the right call. And I think it’s a good questions for business owners everywhere. When do you plow ahead and when do you take a moment to pause?

Next week we’ll be back with our regular schedule. In the meantime we’ll keep an eye out for ways that people can help out and post it here.

TUESDAY, APRIL 17, UPDATE:

Tom Tillar, Vice President for Alumni Relations, has a letter up on the Virginia Tech website that you can read (here). At the bottom of the very moving post he writes:

Many have asked how they may send financial memorials… any memorial gifts, payable to the “Virginia Tech Foundation,” designated specifically for the “Virginia Tech Family Fund,” should be mailed to University Development, 902 Prices Fork Road (0336), Blacksburg, VA 24061.

If you hear of other ways that people can help out please share them in the comments.

Prolific integral blogger C4Chaos asked a great question in connection with my previous post on The Paradox of Gaining Power Through Letting Go. He writes:

Great post Steve! So does egoless mean becoming see-through as well? Which is better, translucent or transparent? Just thinking out loud.

(C4Chaos’ link goes to the cover story of the latest issue of Wired Magazine.)

I too was intrigued by the latest issue of Wired with its provocative title, Get Naked and Rule the World and it’s racy peel back cover:

(Interesting to note that Wired put a nude woman on the cover of its magazine and then only quoted male CEOs in the article. And yes, I realize that my entire staff is male—we’re working on that. But I digress…)

Wired makes the case for “radical transparency”—exposing every last detail of your company’s internal processes to the world through blogging and other forms of direct communication with your customers. Their intention seems noble—transparency can drive a corporate culture of honesty and integrity. They give several examples of “transparency:”

• Redfin, an on-line real estate brokerage that blogs about their battles with traditional real estate agents;
• Southwest Airlines’ strategy of allowing 30 employees to blog about their jobs and personal lives; and
• Zappos’ use of corporate-wide wikis for reporting problems and suggesting solutions.

But it seems to me that these are not examples of 100% transparency—they are examples of good corporate communications and skillful customer relationship management.

I think conscious businesses should strive to be translucent—letting as much light through as possible without oversharing. Why? 3 reasons:

1. CEO’s need to be free to experiment with their edge. Call it research & development, call it trying out a new way of being in the world—CEO’s (and entire teams) need a safe space to experiment and risk failure before they are ready to unveil a brand or product to the world.
2. Good leaders manage expectations. Too much information too soon can ratchet up and concretize expectations in ways that limit your ability to innovate and deliver.
3. Beware of hive mind. It is certainly true that there can be wisdom in crowds. But the danger of asking self selecting crowds to give input into everything you do is that you may end up trying to be everything to everybody.

So, as with most things, it’s a balance. Conscious businesses want to have integrity, honesty, engaging corporate communication, and first rate customer service. They also want to be in relationship with customers, vendors, and the community—and often that will mean seeking their input and counsel. At the same time, few businesses are going to want to air every last detail of their internal processes (or lack thereof)—nor should they. Successful entrepreneurs understand that they need a safe space to innovate and to do the work required to develop and grow (personally and as an organization).

Last week I went to the Boulder grand opening of Nau (pronounced “now”)—an environmentally conscious clothing retailer. Founded by a team of executives who formerly worked for companies such as Starbucks, Adidas, Nike, and Patagonia—they’ve created a fascinating business model. Their clothing is made from recycled polyester (from pop bottles), silk from corn, and organic cotton. They intentionally selected a small retail footprint to reduce their need for energy and materials and they give 5% of their profits to a charity that you can designate. Outside Magazine did a great article about the Nau business model that you can read here.

But like everything in the conscious business world, the sustainability equation is complex.

At the grand opening, Topher Donahue, one of the founders of Nau, gave a thought-provoking presentation that included a discussion of heli-hiking—the practice of flying by helicopter to remote hiking locations rather than starting at the bottom of the mountain. On the one hand, heli-hiking gets people into nature, enabling them to enjoy the beauty of the natural world. On the other hand, helicopters use lots of fossil fuels and contribute to global warming. In this case, do the pros outweigh the cons?

Then, Topher asked, what about driving an SUV up to go hiking? Even if you carpool, you’ll be burning fossil fuels and producing CO2. What if you take a Subaru or even a Prius? Smaller impact but not zero impact. Should we encourage only human powered transportation? But if we spend all of our time getting there, it reduces the amount of time we have to actually enjoy our experience.

Topher’s question, and I think it’s a good one, is, “Where do you draw the line?” The actions of your business are going to produce an environmental impact—the question is, where and what do you trade off? I think the key is to bring consciousness to every step of the process. How well do you understand the impact of your decisions (on people, the planet, and profits)? What choices will make a positive impact on the system? And what choices will kill your business—which is your vehicle for positive impact in the world.

The answers will be different for every company. But the point is that sustainability is not black and white—it’s about acknowledging the impact of our decisions every step of the way and making the best choices we can given all of the available options.